Vac-Form Modelling – Getting Started : Scale Modelling Techniques

The Tools You Will Need

Including Video Demos

With Geoff Coughlin

Introduction

I am right in the middle of the biggest scale modelling project of my life – the 1:32 Echelon Models English Electric Lightning F.6 and that has raised many questions and ideas for your SMN Techniques Bank.

First though just a note to say that I am planning a number of entries for a new sub-area on Vac-form modelling within the much larger Model Construction area of the Techniques Bank, so do watch out for those over the coming weeks.

First up though, how about an introduction to the tools that you’ll need to make the whole process a lot easier and more enjoyable than it might otherwise be.

And just in case vac-form modelling is new to you, the main difference is that all the main parts are supplied on a series of plastic sheets with a vac-form kit, rather than injection moulded into plastic sprue trees as in most mainstream plastic kits. The parts have been vacuum moulded into the sheet styrene. Very often, as in the case of my Lightning, the more refined, detailed parts are supplied using other media like white metal.

These days of course, we have access to very high quality accessories using 3-D printing, photo-etch and resin and by combining an old kit like the Echelon Lightning and accessories currently available, you can expand greatly the opportunities and possibilities for building great subjects that aren’t readily available, covered by the mainstream kit manufacturers or covered well or accurately by the latter. The Lightning in 1:32 scale is a case in point with the only other kit available in this scale being from Trumpeter. Having built that model, it requires a huge amount of work to get it to look anything like accurate – a huge missed opportunity.

So you take the plunge, what ‘tools’ do you need?

What follows isn’t exhaustive but certainly covers the main things you need to make a success of your next, or first, vac-form kit…

(Photo: English Electric Lightning F.6 XS932 ‘J’ No 56 “Firebirds” Squadron, Leconfield, June 1976. Courtesy Derek Hemmingway)

(Photo: Lightning T.5 located at Newark Air Museum (NAM), Nottinghamshire, early 2026. Copyright Geoff Coughlin Collection)

References

No surprise here and much as I do for any model project I like to assemble the best references I can find or afford as well as trawl the internet for photos and images of my subject. This is crucial in my view – work through your references and get a clear idea of what you are trying to create

Read on for the full article…